ORCHID

The Flowers of Surfers Paradise Magazine

What is in season on Orchid Avenue, how it is made, and who it is for.

Late afternoon light falling into a high apartment above Surfers Paradise, looking out across the towers to the sea.
Issue 07Portraits

The People in the Towers

Most people meet Surfers Paradise on a Saturday night. Thousands of us live here. A florist on Orchid Avenue on what the suburb is actually like.Read the story
Seen from directly above, a pair of hands rest flat on a marble counter either side of a small blank cream card, with a spool of oxblood ribbon, a gold fountain pen and brown kraft paper beside them.
Issue 05Notes

What to Write on a Flower Card When You Don't Know What to Say

Wording for sympathy, get well, new baby, birthdays and apologies, plus the two rules that make a short message land better than a long one.Read the story
A woman in a cream silk slip holds three sheets of paper against her collarbone, one deep oxblood, one antique gold, one ivory, against a cream plaster wall.
Issue 04Notes

What Flower Colours Mean

What red, white, yellow, pink and orange flowers actually say, when the traditional meaning matters, and when to ignore it entirely.Read the story
A red-haired woman in an ivory silk shirt dress holds a small hand-tied bouquet of deep burgundy and cream dahlias wrapped in brown kraft paper, in a doorway with palms beyond the window.
Issue 03In Season

A Gold Coast Flower Calendar: What's in Season, and When

A subtropical flower calendar: what we tend to see through summer, autumn, winter and spring on the Gold Coast, and what that means for your order.Read the story
A woman in a dark wine-red dress carries a clear glass vase of tall white orchid sprays across a bare cream room in late afternoon heat, a brass ceiling fan turning above her.
Issue 02Care

Which Flowers Last Longest in Gold Coast Heat?

Which flowers survive a subtropical summer, which ones will not, and how to send flowers in February without them wilting on arrival.Read the story
A florist in a cream shirt and wine-red apron trims the stem of a deep burgundy rose at an angle under running water at a white stone sink.
Issue 01Care

How to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

A florist's guide to keeping cut flowers alive: how to cut stems, how often to change water, and the four things quietly killing your bouquet.Read the story